Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort, by Richard Edward Dennett, , at sacred-texts.com
THE following Songs and additional matter by Mr. Dennett reached the Editor's hands in letters after the rest of the book was in type. As they contained valuable illustrations of the native customs and modes of thought, it was determined to add them by way of Appendix. Unfortunately the photographs of the string of symbols and the mode of using it were in such a condition that it was found impossible to reproduce them. Mr. Dennett's description, however, is so clear that their reproduction is hardly necessary.
The Editor has to thank Miss Kingsley for arranging the translation and explanation furnished by Mr. Dennett of the Song of Hunger, and for further elucidating some of its obscurities. His practice has been to give a translation of each word of the song separately, and at the end of a line or phrase to paraphrase the whole or translate it as closely as the differences of idiom of Bantu and Aryan languages permit. It was thought too tedious to reproduce this procedure in the case of every song; hence, in four out of the five songs here printed, only the translation or paraphrase of the entire line or phrase is given. In the case of the Song of Hunger, however, Mr. Dennett's procedure has been retained, as an illustration of the construction of the Bantu song.
The name given to the first of the following songs is Miss Kingsley's suggestion.
It should be noted that the symbol X stands throughout for tch or dj.